Monday, August 12, 2013

Those of you pining for another edition of Disney's FANTASIA only have a short wait ahead; however, the next incarnation will likely be a bit different from what you were expecting. Shaking free of the confines of the feature-film-presentation-world, Disney has partnered with Harmonix Music Systems to bring Fantasia to the Xbox One and 360. Most interestingly, composer INON ZUR has been brought on to work on the music ... and this will be no small challenge as he will have to adapt music from Vivaldi to Mussorgsky to Queen to Bruno Mars. This fully interactive experience, utilizing Microsoft's Kinect controller, could be something beyond even what Walt Disney could have imagined. While music-games such as Rock Band and the like, have taken a step back in popularity in the last couple of years, it appears Disney is betting on a revival with this release. Now, if these experiences haven't traditionally been your thing, then, at the very least, Inon Zur's adaptations (not to mention his own original pieces) should provide some compelling, non-traditional, musical for our ears to fantasize over.

Intrigued? Read on ...

INON ZUR TAKES THE STAGE AND PERFORMS MUSIC FEATURED IN "DISNEY FANTASIA: MUSIC EVOLVED" FOR FIRST TIME AT DISNEY's D23 EXPO

BURBANK, Calif. - (August 12, 2013) - Disney Interactive and Harmonix Music Systems have teamed up with award-winning composer Inon Zur to develop original music for the game "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved," a breakthrough musical motion video game inspired by Walt Disney's classic animated film "Fantasia." To celebrate this announcement, Zur conducted some of the orchestral classics that will appear in "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" with the Disney Chamber Ensemble at Disney's D23 Expo, the ultimate Disney fan event, and Disney Interactive released 'The Evolution of Disney Fantasia' trailer that can now be viewed ...

"Working with a versatile composer like Inon Zur was critical to developing the innovative type of gameplay we are introducing with 'Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved'," said Eran Egozy, co-founder and chief technical officer of Harmonix Music Systems. "Zur's innate understanding of music's role in gaming allowed us to create original arrangements that will let players experience music like never before."

Zur composed, conducted and produced many of the original orchestral themes for the game and collaborated closely with Disney Interactive and Harmonix to produce innovative new recordings of classical symphonies by the great composers including Mussorgsky and Vivaldi. He also produced and arranged the orchestral version of Queen's iconic rock opera "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the game. Zur recently recorded these classical songs for "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Abbey Road.

"Working with Disney and Harmonix on Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved was a great adventure for me," said Inon Zur. "Recording and producing classical masterpieces, as well as writing original music that had to coexist with the works of the great classical composers presented exciting new challenges. The amazingly talented music composers and producers from Harmonix and Disney supported and guided me throughout this groundbreaking, creative process. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this world-class team and am extremely excited to share all that we've done together with you, the player."

Using Kinect™ motion control technology for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and the Xbox 360® games and entertainment system, and natural, controller-free gameplay, players will control the music flow from some of the industry's biggest acts. "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" gives players the creative power to change their favorite songs in real-time, combining the original recording and new remixed versions, or creating new layers of music via magical manipulators that allow them to change music in exciting and surprising new ways!

"Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" will feature over 30 tracks from leading artists and classical composers, each featuring two unique remixes in addition to the original recording. The current announced artists and songs, including the just-announced classical track by Vivaldi, that will appear in the "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" video game include:

*Antonio Vivaldi - "Four Seasons: Winter: 1st Movement"

*AVICII - "Levels"

*Bruno Mars - "Locked Out Of Heaven"

*Fun. - "Some Nights"

*Kimbra - "Settle Down"

*Modest Mussorgsky - "Night on Bald Mountain"

*Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"

"Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved," will be available for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Kinect™ for Xbox 360® in 2014. "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" is currently not rated by the ESRB.